Kurdistan Human Rights Network

Farhad Navaei, a 16-year-old student who was arrested by security forces during anti-government protests in Mahabad, West Azerbaijan Province, in November last year, was released today from the Juvenile Detention Centre of Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan Province. Navaei, who was recently sentenced to two years in prison by the Criminal Court One of Mahabad, was released after about nine months in detention. The court had charged the...

Prisoners Manouchehr Khazaei and Ahad Hashemi were executed on drug-related charges in Hamadan Central Prison in Hamadan Province on 9 August. Khazaei, a former law enforcement personnel, and Hashemi, from Harsin, Kermanshah Province, were separately arrested and subsequently sentenced to death in two distinct cases involving drug-related offenses. On 7 August, the two prisoners were transferred to solitary confinement with a third prisoner for execution. However, the...

Hundreds of prisoners at Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj were collectively transferred to Evin Prison in Tehran and Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj between 1 and 5 August. These transfers took place in groups, with the prisoners being transferred to different sections of these prisons. Concerns have been raised about the well-being of the prisoners due to the lack of personal belongings during the transfer process,...

Iran today executed prisoner Ahad Hashemi on drug-related charges at Hamadan Central Prison in Hamadan Province. Hashemi, from Harsin, Kermanshah Province, was moved to solitary confinement for execution on 7 August. Hashemi was arrested around seven years ago and sentenced to death by Branch One of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Hamadan.

The Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) today arrested Kurdish civil rights activist Ramin Hassannezhad near Rabat, West Azerbaijan Province, and took him to an undisclosed location. There is no information about the charges against the activist or where he is being held. According to statistics compiled by the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN), in July, at least 75 Kurdish civilians and activists...

Four Kurdish civilians from Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, who were arrested during last year's anti-government protests, have been charged with "enmity against God" (moharebeh) and face the death penalty. These individuals, Keyvan Zandi, Aram Azad, Sardar Shah-Moradi, and Houshang Chahar-Gorgeh, are currently being held in temporary detention in Sanandaj Central Prison. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that the four civilians were arrested separately by...

The lifeless body of a 39-year-old kolbar, Aso Karimi, was discovered in the border region of Shushami, Nowsud, Kermanshah Province, on 7 August. Karimi had sustained severe injuries the previous night during a shooting incident involving border forces targeting a group of kolbars. After being injured, he managed to reach one of the orchards in the area, but lost his life due to the severity of...

Detained civilians Navid Mohammadnezhad, Mehrdad Gheysar-Beygi, Ayoub Garavand, Younes Garavand and Shahriar Faryadian remain in temporary detention at the pre-trial detention centre of Ilam, Ilam Province, after ending their hunger strike. The civilians from Sarableh, Ilam province, began a five-day hunger strike on 23 July to protest their continued detention. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that the Friday Prayer Imam and the Sarableh...

Iranian border guards opened fire on a group of kolbars in the border area of Nowsud, Kermanshah province, on 6 August, injuring at least seven people. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that the kolbars were targeted with shotguns without prior warning. The identified kolbars include Ehsan Rasouli from Paveh, Kermanshah Province; Nima Aazami, Salam Veysi, Milad Bazani and Houshiar Bazani from Javanrud, Kermanshah...